Joel Anderson
Appearances
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
So I definitely came down to the old studio in like 2016. And you guys showed me around. I did the whole thing. We went to lunch, didn't we? Didn't we go to lunch that time too?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Can I say something about that too? So, yeah. So, you know, like I was... uh, in between jobs a few months ago and I was about to accept another offer. Right. And, um, I, I, I reached out to Connor Nevins and people at the ring of though Connor, cause Connor was my editor at ESPN. And I was like, Hey man, um,
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
you know, I got this offer and it's exciting, but I just want to make sure that Bill, like, you know, like you got sure that this isn't going to work out. And Connor was like, yeah, man, you should probably just go ahead. It's fine. Like, you know, Bill's busy or whatever. And so then I texted you right after that. I don't know if Connor's right about this. And you were like, what? Huh?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I thought, you know, and then everything started rolling and here we are today.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Oh, definitely Slow Burn 6 to LA Rides. Just because I was fascinated by LA as a city, and it emerged from my reporting on season three on Biggie and Tupac. And I was just like, oh, if I ever got a chance to tell that story, which is part of the reason 2020 got held up, right? Yeah. That got put in my face, and I was like, well, I have to do this. This is like a passion project.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Um, and you know, like humanizing Rodney King, um, just talking about the divisions in the city, like how it was more complicated than people thought. Um, I, I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't wait to do that. So that was probably the thing that I'm most proud of.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I did, you know, I did a season on, uh, uh, Clarence Thomas a couple of years later, which was more, uh, critically acclaimed, but, uh, my favorite is season six of slow burn the LA riots.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I think the degree of intimacy between them. It makes sense in retrospect how things got out of control, right? Because that kind of hatred, that kind of anger only comes about when you know somebody and they're like your friend. And they were really friends. Tupac had a lot to do with Biggie becoming a celebrity and getting accepted out on the West Coast.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Tupac wanted to sign Biggie to his record label. But then Tupac was like, I don't know, this Diddy guy, Puffy, he knows what he's doing. You probably should stick with him. We could collaborate, you know what I mean? Yeah. Right. Right. Right. I mean, in some ways it worked and in some ways, you know, it probably is best we didn't get to see how that was going to turn out in the end.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
But yeah, man, so that that part of it was the thing. I knew that they had been cool, but I didn't know how cool. And that was sort of a revelation. And it explained a lot about what happened after once I learned that, I think.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Right, because in so much with Drake is unsettled. We don't know where he's actually going to go. He hasn't really released any music. He hasn't really presented himself in front of the public again. Actually, I'm sort of fascinated by what Kendrick is going to do at the Super Bowl as the L.A. guy. Right. Like he probably had one show in mind.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And now after all this, you know, the events of the past week, I wonder if he's going to have to broaden it, a sort of shift focus. But because of all that, because we haven't had their careers haven't continued like that's going to have to be at least 10 years. Don't you think we got to give it 10 when Drake's almost 50?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
absolutely well yeah the thing is and if you wait for too long somebody else is going to do it and they may screw it up and like and then it's like well you really don't want to go over that ground again right like it's already out there but then it's like maybe not the ideal project uh at the end of the day so yeah uh wait let me ask you about the last dance thing then because yeah like don't you think that like they kind of i felt like because of all the fallout as a result of that like like i don't know what the hell is going on with scotty pippen like anytime i see scotty pippen
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
in a video or a reel now, like I feel sorry for him. And I don't know how much of this emanates from what came out of the last dance or whatever, you know, he's gotten divorced, but I feel like they almost have to revisit and re-interview some of these people because I feel like there was a lot of fallout from the last dance.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And it's like, I feel like that story like kind of got sparked back up and I need some sort of closure on a lot of these things.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Really? Yeah. Oh, man. You can't tell me who's been a source of frustration here.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
That was the big problem with the Biggie and Tupac. I'll just admit this on your show here. I did not like season three for Slow Burn, like the Biggie and Tupac, because so much of it was people not wanting to talk. Because first of all, people have talked about Biggie and Tupac forever. Some people think they deserve their own documentary.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And then, yeah, then other people are like, why would I talk about this if I'm not getting paid? And I feel like people have gotten sort of attuned to the idea that like, all right, well, I've got this information if you want it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Yeah, I don't feel... Yeah, I don't... You know, and also, I mean, you know, Jimmy, you could show up. You could play. You know what I mean?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
The thing... I call him Jimmy Succeed. I'm like, you know, I can understand... I could understand the Heat's problem here. They're like, well, you want to just kind of coast through the regular season. Like, why don't you take the responsibility of leading us to home court advantage in the playoffs once? Like, that would be cool. Wouldn't that be nice?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Also, that would, you know, do the Arisons or whatever a solid. I'm sure that would earn them a lot of money, too, for having playoff games in the first round.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
don't you think he would have been pissed if he had got, if they had gotten Dame too, like now that we've seen Dame and I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll go back to Dame. It was the, uh, the Tokyo games. And I remember thinking, man, he looks not good out there, but I just, I didn't, I, I, I liked it when they had drew holiday out there instead of him.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And I was like, Oh man, I didn't know if he had just turned the corner in his career or what, but I was like, I don't. And so when he went to Milwaukee, I remember thinking, I don't know if that's, I don't know if that's going to be the answer, but okay, we'll see. And so if he went to Miami without Giannis, I mean, I don't, I think they would have a lot more reasons to be pissed down there.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
We're not taking Paul George. The thing is, they just have to kind of get over the idea. They're not going to win a championship now, right? I mean, that's the thing. They have to sort of take their medicine, I guess. They have to be bad, but that is not a Pat Riley thing.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Let me tell you something. I mean, as a Rockets fan, you know, I grew up in Houston. Yeah. Please don't trade for KD. Like, I just don't... I like our young core. Like, we have a lot of assets. Please, I just want to rock with A-Man, Jalen. Yeah. Like, I just want to see that with Ime. And let's just go with that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Let's not do the KD thing because as great as he is, I just kind of feel like the days of him being able to elevate a team in quite that way are kind of over. So let's just... I like what we're doing. It's the only thing that makes me feel good about missing out on Wimby in the draft. So, like, let's just, please, if Houston, if you can hear me, let's keep this roster.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Let's just rock with it for a little bit longer and see where we can go with it, please. How close were you to Wimby? I forget. How many picks? I mean, two. But I think that, like, I think they had, they had the second best odds to get Wimby or something like that. Right. And they ended up picking third. Yeah. Which is, you know, fine. I'm not upset with the pick, but obviously it's not wimpy.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think that like what the Rockets are doing, it's like the only thing that makes me feel good. I'm like, oh, this is the kind of team. They're really good. They're young. They can grow together. Also... I feel like they're strong in a way that sort of could cause problems for Wimby, like this physical, deep team. I could see that causing Wimby problems.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
So I'm like, okay, if we can keep this together, then I'm fine with it. But if not, then I'm just going to belabor missing out. We got Yao. We got Ralph Samson. We got Dream. I just kind of expected the Wimby thing was supposed to be us. That's supposed to be the Houston thing, and we missed out on it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Well, let me ask you, because you're the NBA expert here. Do you think, though, this is one of those examples of a team that has already sort of capped out on its... They play really... They're young. You may can get them to play really hard in the regular season. But when it comes to the postseason, there may not be another gear for them.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Like nobody's scared of him.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Um, yeah, yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I was so mad when they picked him, by the way, Bill. I was like, man, what the fuck? This overtime elite shit, man. I was like, I don't want this dog. Don't fall. It did not feel good. But yeah, I love that dude so much, man. He's such a, he's such a dog.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And he's like, I mean, how many, I mean, it's very rare that he's on the floor and he's not the best athlete on the floor, which is crazy to say in the NBA, but that is legit.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Yeah, man. I mean, there's so much growth left for his game. And I don't know if you want to clear it out so that he can become like the alpha dog on your team.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I want to hold on to that guy forever. And I just, you know, I love, I love that. Like, again, you know, maybe I could probably live without Dylan Brooks, but I understand like his role on a team like that. And it helps to create a culture, which was totally different than it existed a couple of years before. But like.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Oh yeah, absolutely. Well, I was looking, I mean, like, dude, the Southwest standings in the NBA, like San Antonio was fourth, man. They're fourth, 19 and 19. And the fifth place team is the Pelicans. And I felt like if Zion is right, they can beat any of those teams any night too, right? They're nine and 32. But like if Zion is right, which is- I watched it last night.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Oh, man. Come on, dog.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I don't want that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Come on.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Because I don't like the Spurs. I don't want to hear their mouth. Oh, because of Rockets thing.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I don't want them to be that good. That's terrifying. Yeah, I don't want that to happen. I also feel like... Like Zion looking up at Wimby and being like, man, this, look how this guy, how serious he takes his career.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Like, I mean, they were talking about his dedication to the game when he was 17 years old over in, you know, learning two languages, learning how to become like a face of a league, basically, you know?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I think that is like 90... I'm like 90% certain that's going to happen. Because, I mean, it just... He did not want to go to New Orleans in the first place. It just felt like it was never going to work out. And New Orleans is a franchise. I feel like if you're... CJ McCollum, you're a professional. Like, I'm just going to show up. It doesn't matter where I got a ball.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Like, I'm going to do it or whatever. But, like, the expectations for Zion were so much more than that. And clearly, he thrived in a place where he was the star of the show and there was a lot of attention on him. And it just felt like... New Orleans is not where it needs to be. And also the training staff. I don't know. What do you mean you don't know?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I feel like it's pretty much guaranteed that if he goes someplace that he feels motivated to play and he's got a bunch of guys or dogs around him, I feel like it's a certainty that he's going to take off no matter where he goes.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
He likes being that guy, man. And so it's clearly in there. I think that it's unless, unless he gets hurt, it's going to come out and it's going to come out somewhere else. It's just, it's just some places. It's just not going to happen, dude. And like, I felt like we've seen enough of new Orleans now. It's like, it's just not going to happen down here. So it's time to go somewhere else.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I feel like New Orleans is sad, though, too. I feel like I could be down there for three or four days, and then I got to kind of keep it moving.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
What do you think, Joel? I definitely think it's going to be closer than people think. But at the end of the day, your limitations are your limitations. Notre Dame can't pass, right? Like they can't pass the ball.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And I feel like that's going to be a real problem in a game where you, I mean, the thing about Ohio State, which was, we'll get into it in the list later, but somebody's supposed to slip free, right? Like Travion, uh,
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
You know, Quinn, Sean, Jeremiah, Emeka, Carnell, somebody is going to bust loose and like Notre Dame is going to have to do something other than put together a 13 place, 72 yard drive to keep up. And I just think eventually after a while that takes a toll and they'll kind of fall behind. But I do.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I agree with Van that it's going to be much closer and they're going to be a tougher out for Ohio State than people think.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I can't envision a scenario in which Notre Dame can get to 24, and that's why I don't think they can win. And I feel like Ohio State can kind of F up. We can't curse here, right? I can say fuck. I can say fuck. I know y'all curse, but I'm new here, right? I think Ohio State can fuck around. and get 24.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Like, I mean, you know, they can just luck up into a couple, like you hit Jeremiah deep, you know, a drive or whatever. And I don't, I Notre Dame again, better than people that think they're going to be, but I don't think they can get to 24. All right.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I don't think that Ohio State necessarily deserves to be the national champion. By the standards of the champions that have come before them, they are a failure. They didn't beat their biggest rival. They didn't win their conference championship. So that they win, it redeems the fuck-ups they had earlier in the season, but I don't think it means that... they deserve to have been in the playoffs.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Like it's just a circumstance of history that they're in the playoffs, but I don't, you know, like they're the best team, but they didn't live up to that during the year. And if they didn't make the playoffs, I don't think anybody would have lost any sleep. Well, counter they lost two games by four points. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
But I mean, well, we'll talk about it, but like, I mean, you watch, how do you watch Michigan play this year?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
So is that better or worse? I mean, I guess it kind of depends on what you think. I wrote about this for TheRinger.com. I know you did. And so what I would say is that if college football fans can sort of disabuse themselves, it's like, as Van said, the most deserving notion. And it's like, well, NFL fans, when Brady and the Bucks won the Super Bowl,
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I mean, I don't know if anybody thought they were clearly the most deserving team or anything like that, but they won. They were the champion. And so, like, NFL fans accept that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
All right. Sorry, Joel. Go ahead. No, but I'm with you on that. So if it's going to be like that, then... And we're going to become college fans, become NFL fans. I'll be like, all right. That happens to be the champion this year. But I kind of... I guess as an older dude, I kind of like every game. That loss in Michigan should count for something. In this way, it just made Ohio State mad.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
But it used to be that, oh, man, the whole program crumbles. Ryan Day has to go away. Caleb Downs is back in the portal. All that kind of stuff.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I think that there's still questions, even if he wins the national championship, is this the right guy? Is this the right guy? It's hilarious, though.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
It probably is the program that your grandmother is most likely to recognize. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
right but like it does have that and it no longer has the cachet i mean there was a time that you know this large catholic wealthy university own network it had all these advantages over everybody else well we all know that that's not even true they lost a coach to lsu like we're not in you know no disrespect van you know but we can't lsu's not bama it's not texas it's not ohio god
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
This is like shots fired.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Jesus. When I grew up, LSU was a 7-5 ass program. No, it was a 7-4 ass program.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Before Kevin Falk went there. I'm worried I'm going to get hit by a bullet. Okay. Before Kevin Falk went to LSU, and then definitely before Nick Saban got there, they were like, if Texas A&M lost to LSU, I'd be like, man, what happened to Texas A&M?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Let me throw this theory at you, because I say that Nick Saban actually integrated the SEC.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
like the way that he recruited at lsu if you look at like in recruiting rankings over those years like starting from like like the like 98 when when saban gets there like every year like the scc school like lsu starts creeping up the the recruiting rankings and then slowly but surely and certainly once by the time he goes to alabama all the other schools start to catch up and they're like oh yeah i guess we need to recruit these guys because it used to be there was a lot of reticence like
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Even in Texas, there was some reticence that the University of Texas, they didn't really recruit the guys out of the urban centers like Dallas, Houston. Those guys went to Florida State. They went to Michigan or whatever. They didn't go to Texas. And then something happened in the late 90s, early 2000s.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And I said, Nick Saban, for me, when I look back at what he did, I felt like he integrated the SEC in a way. And I think that's what was the inflection point for LSU. But prior to that, come on, man. You know what y'all were. No, in the 90s, we were down.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I wasn't saying LSU was Indiana. I'm saying that y'all would not know today. No, we weren't.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Nobody, nobody ever, nobody ever apologized to him. You're right. Nobody thought LSU was like this great blue blood program.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
A great coach. Character.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I'll say that if Saban stayed at LSU, LSU would have been better than Bama. LSU has a lot more going for it as a program and in terms of what its potential is as opposed to Bama, I think.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I was going to, I was going to go five to one. Let's do it. Okay. Real quick. Bill, did you follow Holy Cross football from 2021 to 2023? Yes. You did. I was into it. What did you think of the quarterback play?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Yeah. So that was my number five thing, Matt Sluka going to UNLV. Because first of all, I think it was one of the rare things. It ended up okay for everybody. But for people that don't know, Sluka, he was the quarterback at Holy Cross, transfers to UNLV, plays the first three games. UNLV looks great. I was like, man, UNLV's got a good damn football program. What happened there?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Well, it turns out that he says he... He decides to sit out the rest of the season and take a red shirt because the school didn't follow through on whatever promises they allegedly made about NIL.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
They promised him $100,000 and he only got like $1,000, right? And I don't know which the... It's still unclear what the difference is here and why those expectations weren't met. But it's like one of these things where you could project your feelings about the NIL era onto the player in this situation.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And if you like me and you like players getting paid, I didn't mind him withholding his labor until he got what he felt was promised. And if you don't like it, it was about these spoiled and entitled college players prioritizing money over the team. So I thought it was like a really, you know, like a fun story that didn't ultimately hurt anybody because UNLV still was badass. Well, wait, though.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
All right. I want to move to number four. So, you know, Nick Saban was actually trying to be honest earlier this year when he said the only place you play in the SEC that's not hard to play is in Vanderbilt. And then it's like not even a month later, Alabama goes to Vanderbilt and loses for the first time since 1984. They got their ass beat. Vanderbilt scored 40 points on them.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
They didn't luck into those points. They beat their ass. And it was just hilarious. Because first of all, you also get to see Bama fans go crazy now. They've lived an unprecedented ride for the last 15 to 20 years. And to see their faces and to see how they responded to losing to Vandy in the first year post-saving, it was hilarious. So I had to put that at number four.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Did Shane say anything about Chargers or anything? He didn't say anything about a Dutch Charger, did he?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And Saban was just like... Anyway, number three. Number three. So if you are like me, since I followed college football, the idea of Arizona State football has always been like, man... Arizona, why isn't Arizona State any good? You know, they've got all that. They're in a fast growing area. They got a lot of sun. It's like a school like academics ain't going to be in the problem.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And, you know, if you like me and you saw, you know, the Playboy edition of Pac-10, you know, Pac-10 seasons like Arizona, you know what I'm saying, is rolling. Elite milk. Yeah, you said it, not me. I can't, you know what I'm saying? I'm a family man. I am too, but the truth is the truth. So anyway, about Frank Fish. But man, Arizona State was dope this year, man.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
You kind of see, oh man, Arizona State's good. They might have a future. They got a 34-year-old coach he can recruit. They got a little outfit. They're not going to get Cam Scatterboat. I call that dude Pocket Grunk. I don't know if he's going to be good in the NFL or whatever, but as a college character, he was perfect for Arizona State.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And like Texas has all the athletes you could think of. And he was.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
All right. Number two. Number two, this was the first Heisman race in about a decade where QB wasn't a serious contender. And I love that because we could talk about Travis Hunter, who I don't know. I've never seen anything like that in college football. Like maybe if you go down a level or something or you could say, oh, there's a guy that played, you know,
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
a thousand snaps in a season, but I've never seen anybody do that and excel in the way that Travis Hunter did. And like, there was a game this year against UCF. He had nine passes for 89 yards, a touchdown, a pass breakup and interception. And he was on the field for 128 of 143 snaps in that game.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And I'm just like, yo, like, I don't know what more you could... Like, people thought Charles Woodson was amazing because he played a few snaps at receiver. No, like, Travis Hunter was doing something else, totally. And, like, the Ashton Genting kid, I just... Let me get on the soapbox for a second. If you think that Ashton Genting got exposed against Penn State, you are stupid.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Like, I literally think that you don't know ball. Because the dude, like, if you watch that defense and him... Like, that guy... It took everything in that Penn State defense. And they focused all their efforts on them because Boise State couldn't pass. And that dude still hammered out 100 yards. There was a 10-yard run early in the fourth quarter where six Penn State guys got a hand on that guy.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Yeah, man. Yeah. So I love it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Yeah. Abdul Carter is supposedly a badass and he got hurt tackling Ashton Gentile in that game. You know what I'm saying?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
D-back, because it's so much harder to find guys with that skill set at that position. You can get a receiver, maybe not as talented as Travis, but you could get something, a reasonable approximation. On defense, though, there's just not cats like that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
Number one. This is kind of obvious. I mean, it just, there was just nothing that was going to indicate that Michigan was even going to be competitive with Ohio State. Ohio State was a 19 and a half point favorite coming into that game. They had a $20 million roster. Michigan didn't even have their best player that game. The cornerback, Will Johnson, he was out that game.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
And this was like, they had it all set up. They're at home. They can exact revenge on this team and just totally exercise all those demons. and they lost to, like, the brokest dick offensive team. I mean, I saw it at that. Like, I mean, they cannot throw a forward pass on that team.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
All right. I have one thing to say, and I have a theory, and... You know, I know concussion came out nine years ago, but I talked about this on the press box. I think Ohio State's quarterback got a concussion in the second quarter. I think Will Howard got a concussion because he missed a play for a hit. They said they were looking at his head. He said he was okay.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
He went back in the game and he never looked the same. So that's just, I know that football, we've moved on from that, like worrying about CT and everything, but I kind of feel like that dude got a head injury.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 1: An NBA Midseason Power Poll, Plus OSU vs. Notre Dame with Joel Anderson and Van Lathan
I had a lot of fun with you guys, man. Yeah, we'll do it again. Easy on LSU.